that debt forgiveness is tax free. again, thanks to congress passing a tax relief act on short sales back in 2007. a congressional committee estimates that will cost close to $1 billion in lost revenue to the government. now, given that relief and the fact that banks are really pushing these short sales and doing themselves, the question is, do we really need government to keep funding these short sales, maria? >> diana, these are the questions we'll keep following. thanks so much. they ask, should the government get out of the housing business altogether? rick santelli thinks so. jason says this isn't the time to kill these programs. rick, make the case. >> well, my case is why doesn't the government just buy them all, all the houses that are out there in foreclosure, vacant, bulldoze them down, give the tax bill to future generations, boom. housing fix. just because it's expedient doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. what, we're going to give them a break on their principle and their income tax? the government ne